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Weekly UpdatesWindstream Communications Inc., represented by Woods & Aitken LLP of Lincoln, Neb., and Wright Lindsey & Jennings LLP of Little Rock, last week settled its $7 million billing dispute with Alltel (now Verizon) Thursday morning.
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The terms of the settlement are confidential, Windstream said.
Windstream filed a complaint in federal court in April, alleging it had been improperly billed by Alltel for a certain type of third-party phone call for the last three years.
Windstream claimed that Alltel had been charging it for a call made by an unrelated third-party customer that was transferred over a network belonging to Windstream or its affiliates to an Alltel customer.
Windstream took the matter directly to federal court. Verizon, represented by Chisenhall Nestrud & Julian PA of Little Rock, protested Windstream's choice of venue, arguing that each state public service commission in the approximately 10 affected states should hear the dispute because the issue sprang from the two companies' interconnection agreements.
According to Paul Suskie, chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, interconnection agreements among telecommunications firms are in the jurisdiction of the PSC. Even Windstream acknowledged that point in its response to Verizon's motion to dismiss.
Windstream claimed that there was no provision in the interconnection agreement that allowed Alltel to bill Windstream for the type of phone call Windstream referred to as "transit traffic."
Therefore, Windstream contended, Alltel perpetrated unlawful and deceptive trade practices, actions that do fall under the purview of the court.
Suskie said such a disagreement over whether the commission or the courts should hear a case first was not a unique event.
"One of the parties believes that it should be under the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission. That is not uncommon; that happens often. It's even happened in-state court before," Suskie said.
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